Rather than give common “go to” answers to the following, I felt it was best to give a more in depth theological understanding to the reader/inquirer. If you are new to this, some of it may be a bit bewildering, but if you take your time with this and begin the process of thinking through these deeply significant things – the fog will begin to lift. What follows are the foundations of Christian belief. Significantly, this is what we believe at Saint John UMC.
~Rev. Kendell Healy
About God
For the Christian it is not a matter of whether or not God exists. God’s existence is not an issue and is presumed; rather for the Christian it is all about the God who is revealed in the Holy Scriptures. Simply put, we believe that the God of the Holy Scriptures is the God of reality. We also believe that this God is the creator God of everything – the heavens and the earth — the visible and the invisible — the universe. Further, there is only one God but in three persons – God the Father — Son — and Holy Spirit. Our God is relational – and has made Himself known to His created beings through the Holy Scriptures, and ultimately through the person of Jesus the Christ.
About Jesus
We believe that Jesus is the second person of the Holy Trinity. Jesus is the Son of God; however, this is not to be understood in purely human terms. God did not give birth to a son rather Jesus has always been with God — in eternity (John 1:1). The name Jesus, which means God saves -or- God provides salvation, was given upon Jesus’ foretold birth. So, how do we understand Jesus before His incarnation (physical form on earth) — we understand Him as the Christ, God’s Son -or- the second person of the Trinity. Straight to the point — Jesus is deity — Jesus is God – He is the God-man. So, where does the title Christ fit in. Christ means anointed One, Messiah (it is not Jesus’ last name). Therefore, Jesus is the Christ! He is God’s anointed One — He is the Messiah.
About Man
Our belief in human beings (Adam in Hebrew) is rooted in the creation account of Genesis — the book of beginnings. We believe that God created the first two human beings (Adam, which means man, humankind -and- Eve, which, in Hebrew means life -or- mother of all life). The Scripture informs us that when God created these two human beings, everything was in a state of shalom, which means a state of peace where everything is right between God and His creation. However, Adam & Eve chose to be disobedient to God by determining for themselves what was to be good and evil. In other words — rather than look to God for their moral center they relied on their own understanding. Upon their defiance, sin was introduced into humanity and the separation (relationship) between God and His creatures has been broken ever since. We believe that all of humanity has been negatively affected by the sin of the first two humans and because of sin — we have all been separated by God.
About Salvation
Because of sin, human beings are in need of a way to make things right with God again (that state of shalom mentioned above). This is why Jesus the Christ is so extremely significant to all of humanity. Christians believe that Jesus the Christ is the means by which a person can obtain salvation and be right with God again. In order to fully understand this, a person must understand what it means to offer a sacrifice. At this juncture, I will try my best to explain it:
When a person does something wrong (sins) against another person, they can go to that person and make things right by asking for forgiveness and then by doing something to make up for the hurt (transgression). If the act of the person is acceptable to the one sinned against — then all can be well. It is important to understand that this is how things can be made right between two people. However, what happens if the One being sinned against is not a person but a God? This changes things significantly because what can the human being do beyond asking for forgiveness that would be acceptable to a perfectly Holy God who cannot have anything to do with sin? Do you see the problem? This is where Jesus comes into the picture.
Recall, that Jesus is not just a human being rather Jesus is God – in fact, Jesus is both — He is the God-Man (fully God and fully human). What this means is that only Jesus is able to offer God an acceptable act that would make things right again, hence sacrifice. Jesus is the acceptable and pleasing sacrifice. Jesus lived a perfectly moral life that was pleasing to God and then He went to the cross and offered Himself up to God as an acceptable sacrifice, and He did it on behalf of all who have sinned against God, which is everyone. Imagine living a perfectly moral life of loving God and neighbor than asking to be treated as you have lived a life full of the worst sins of humanity. . . That is what Jesus did. Jesus is salvation because Jesus provides all who believe in Him salvation. Now for the most amazing thing of all — it is available to all those who put their faith in Him. Just believe! (I know, its not that simple because it takes a good amount of understanding, but what salvation all comes down to is FAITH! For we are saved by Faith alone – faith in Jesus the Christ.